Eisenhower hands Memorial first loss at home 3-1

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Specifically, Sharonda Marshall walked into the Mavs Gym and confounded Memorial left and right with her kills andblocks.

By Robert Avery

When she and her teammates were done, Eisenhower had cooled off the Lady Mavs with a 25-23, 25-18, 21-25, 25-19 non-district decision Tuesday night.

The 3-1 defeat represented Memorial's first loss since Aug. 20 at the La Porte Tournament. It snapped an overall three-match winning streak and it represented Memorial's first defeat on its floor as the club slips to 8-3 for the season.

Memorial was its own worst enemy much of the time, specifically with its serves. The club served up what had to be a season-high 16 service errors. That represents 17 percent of Eisenhower's points.

Considering the closeness of all three defeats, that was a huge 17 percent. In the fourth contest, Memorial committed a match-high six service errors.

And it seemed every time the team stepped it up a notch in digging the ball, the Lady Mavs couldn't finish it with the point. Sadie Snelson had some dandy digs but none seemed to help as Eisenhower eventually kept winning the rally.

There was one nice positive to come out of the match and that was the varsity debut of Nancy Cole.

Just a freshman, Cole already stands over six feet tall. In her first match, she gave a hint of what could be coming with a handful of kills and blocks.

During a kill of hers in Game 2, Cole, who subbed for Amanda Delajandro off the bench, barely had to jump up to slam the ball down on the other side of the net.

But her best game was Game 3. During one stretch, she was directly responsible for six of 10 points.

By no accident, Memorial went from a 7-4 deficit to a 14-10 advantage when Cole was finished with her rampage. She tallied four kills, two blocks and a service ace, a hard serve that just cleared the net.

Memorial has had a liking lately for overcoming 2-0 deficits , but there wouldn't be one this night. The Lady Mavs gave their fans false hopes with that 25-21 win.

The team even had leads of 5-4 and 6-5 in Game 4, but they couldn't stretch it out. After a Snelson kill tied it at 13-13, Memorial's troubles with its serves arose once again at the most inopportune time.

Three of Eisenhower's next five points were the result of poor Memorial serves, opening the door for an 18-16 Generals lead.

Memorial would force the 11th tie of the game at 18-18, but it would be the last. Eisenhower wrapped up the match with a 7-1 surge.

In Game 1, Memorial just couldn't escape Eisenhower's shadow. Trailing by no more than five points the entire game, the Lady Mavs drew within two points four times down the stretch.

It became a two-point deficit for a fifth time when Snelson, off a pass from Amanda Williams, put down the kill. Then a Cole kill produced a one-point difference for the first time since 8-7, but Treeandry Grundy came to Eisenhower's rescue with a game-winning kill.

Memorial really dug itself a hole when again the team couldn't completely steal the momentum. Marshall was at her best in this game, accounting for four of the last 11 points, including the last two.

But Memorial's serve-receving struggled in Game 2 as did the offense, unable to find an answer for the blocking by Marshall and others.

Eisenhower contemplated sweeping Memorial by jumping out to a 7-3 lead in Game 3, but with the freshman's help, Memorial finally got a run going, a run that put the team in front to stay.